Only 100, Professor Already Set To Retire

ROANOKE — Folks at Roanoke College feted him on his birthday this week.

In the Roanoke College yearbook for 1928, beneath a photograph of a clear-eyed, neatly attired senior in his early 20s, there is a passage by the editor:

"He is characteristically even tempered, he thinks soundly and deeply and has never been known to rush impetuously into anything."

That phrase was used 78 years ago to describe professor Charles "Hap" Fisher, and although it's an analysis that was made even before the Great Depression, it still holds true.

Fisher, an adjunct research professor at Roanoke College, turned 100 Monday and celebrated with a gathering of friends and colleagues Tuesday at the school's Colket Center. He has announced he will retire at the end of the month.

His longevity, he said, just kind of happened.

"For the past 15 years, I'd think, 'Maybe I'll live one more year,'" Fisher said. "Now I think, 'Maybe I'll live to be 101.'"

"He still comes to the office once a week," said Gail Steehler, chairwoman of Roanoke College's chemistry department. "He always has something on his mind, something to talk about."

"He's decided alternate fuels are a problem for the country to solve," Steehler added. "It's a good example of how he continues to think about important things."

noted alumnus

Roanoke College has figured heavily in Fisher's long life: When he was growing up, his parents moved to Salem so he could become a student there. He would eventually serve as president of the school's alumni association, and the school's prestigious lecture series would bear his name.

"He's one of the alums that you love because he gives so much back -- in time and also financially," said Linda Miller, the school's archivist. "He's just sort of been ever-present."

That presence and his work have extended well beyond the Roanoke Valley. In a retrospective presentation during the ceremony, professor of chemistry Ben Huddle detailed Fisher's many honors and awards. Huddle cited Fisher's 200 scientific publications and more than 70 patents, calling the work "groundbreaking research that led to our lives being happier." Among the developments stemming from Fisher's work, he said, are flame-resistant cotton and frozen orange juice.

lots still to do

Fisher also served as head of the Southern Regional Research Laboratory in New Orleans for 22 years and, during World War II, was instrumental in the creation of a polymer called Hycar 21, which he called one of his proudest achievements.

"My small group developed a synthetic rubber that's been manufactured since 1947," Fisher said. "It's a specialty rubber, not a tire rubber. It was used because it has resistance to high temperatures."

Fisher told the audience Tuesday that "you might think retirement is wonderful, but when you retire you still have to have something to do. You still have 24 hours in a day."

It is time he plans to fill.

"I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing," he explained, citing the correlation of chemical properties as his main task. "My work is not done in a laboratory, hasn't been for years." *